Oriental Review

Russia and the Changing World

By Vladimir PUTIN (Russia)

ORIENTAL REVIEW republishes the latest article by Vladimir Putin, Russian PM and front-runner of the presidential campaign due to culminate next Sunday, March 4, 2012. The article focuses on different aspects of the Russian foreign policy. In my previous articles I have discussed some of the key foreign challenges that Russia now faces. This subject [...]

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Russia and US Clash Over Afghan Drug Trafficking

By Alexander SHUSTOV (Russia)

This month Washington whose commitment to fighting drug production in the US occupied Afghanistan is widely called into question rolled out a new plan of coordinating the activities of Central Asian republic’s anti-narcotic agencies. The initiative was, however, promptly blocked as potentially counterproductive by Russia, the country hit hardest by the Afghan drug output. In [...]

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Churchill’s Shadow in the UN

By Dmitry SEDOV (Russia)

In his time then Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill proved the fact that a gap between a public politician and a public call girl could be narrowed to minimum. Winston himself often deserted one party for another watching how the wind was blowing and trusting his own feelings. He was no less consistent [...]

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«Arab Spring» Export to China: US Stakes On Tibet, Xinjiang and Cellphones

By Alexander Krymov (Russia)

At the 48 Munich security conference China’s Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said that ‘China is committed to giving back to Asia with its own development and plays a major part in upholding peace and stability in the region.’ In response US senator John McCain decided to put the Chinese official to his place: ‘I [...]

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Moscow and the Formation of The New World System

by Imad Fawzi SHUEIBI (Syria)

Some bet, as it used to be, that a change in the Russian stance towards the Arab Region will occur and will be similar to what had taken place concerning the Iraqi or Libyan affair. However, a insightful analysis of the Russian stance will rule out such a notion for the following considerations: The Russian [...]

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Putin: Democracy in Making

By Jon HELLEVIG (Finland)

Democracy in the West has been long in making and we cannot point on a single person in any of the countries whom we would credit for having brought about democracy. We can only look at a long, and troublesome, history of social competition which has resulted in a state of affairs we call democracy, [...]

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US, Iran Keeping Up Belligerent Rhetoric

By Victor MIKHIN (Russia)

According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation is scheduled to revisit Iran from February 21-22. He said, “These cooperations between Iran and the IAEA can lead to the agency’s better understanding of the peaceful nature of our activities.” The delegation, which was led by Herman Nackaerts, Deputy [...]

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Petrodollar Pumping US Policy on Iran, Backfire Looms

By Michael WINTER (USA)

As tensions between the US and Iran heat up, author Michael T. Winter believes the main reason behind America’s harsh stance is Tehran’s move to seek an alternative to the dollar as an oil currency. Economic sanctions, spearheaded by the US and, less willingly, the EU could have a disastrous effect on both of their [...]

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The Tug of War in Moscow

by Israel SHAMIR (Russia)

For a month, Moscow was bracing itself for the February 4 Rally. It was pre-planned and prepared by the anti-Putin pro-Western liberal opposition. Despite sub-zero Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Centigrade) arctic frost, the organizers hoped to break their pre-Christmas record and gather a huge crowd and a procession to shatter the will of the government [...]

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Oil war in South Atlantic: Great Britain vs. Latin America

By Nil NIKANDROV (Russia)

Buenos-Aires and other cities of Argentina have many monuments dedicated to the officers and men, who died on the Malvinas Islands. Hundreds of shields along the Argentinean roads carry a single line: Las Malvinas son Argentinas (Las Malvinas belong to Argentina). All the participants of that war of a long ago are regarded as national [...]

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US Ambassador’s Silicone Brains

By ORIENTAL REVIEW

On Monday January 30, 2012 a leading Russian TV channel showed an unexpectedly significant interview with Michael McFaul, the recently appointed US Ambassador to Russia. Why ‘unexpectedly’? Because the host of the show was Vladimir Pozner, patriarch of the Soviet/Russian television widely known for his pro-Western, liberal and hedonistic stance. We expected a regular one-way [...]

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What the Taliban Readiness to Talk Means for Afghanistan

By Najmuddin A. SHAIKH (Pakistan)

The Taliban spokesman’s announcement that the Taliban are prepared to open an office in Doha Qatar and to hold talks with the Americans at that site has been the headline story in the international media for the last few days. The fact that this very spokesman, commenting on the disgusting video of American marines urinating [...]

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